Do you overplan?

[boomhauer]

I'm looking at my itinerary for the end of the month. It's insane. I'll be there for 8 nights by myself. I'll have MORE than enough time to do and see everything I want. Yet, I still find myself worrying about days that I'm park hopping, whether I'll have enough time at this park that day, or the other park that day. Then, I worry about my meals, and being able to eat all the places I want as much as I want to. Then, I worry about how much time I'll have at Downtown Disney, and worrying about getting back to the hotel to have a drink before the bar closes.

THIS IS A VACATION!!!! I get so stressed about this stuff.

Of course, when I get there, none of this comes up, and I have more extra time than I know what to do with.

Any other compulsive worried planners like me?

 

[bleeps]

The way I look at it, my planning compulsion helps me make a Disney vacation last year 'round. I get SO many, many, many hours of pleasure out of thinking about, planning, researching, re-arranging -- and I find that by having a plan in place when we get there, I know exactly how to pivot, or go with the flow, because I can see the time there in terms of the whole picture.

SO -- enjoy your planning, enjoy your trip, and know that when you get there you can make the adjustments you need/want to make since you know what's in store on your other days. Eight days by yourself?!? You lucky dog!

 

[LindaR]

Yep! DD17 and I plan, plan, and plan some more! We make a list of our "must do" attractions, make a list of "wanna do" attractions, make a list of "if we get to it" attractions. We examine menus, plan each and every meal, make a list of subsitute dining places. We plan shopping. We plan daily "down" time (I have spinal problems, so there's a midday break at the hotel each day). We plan which park in the morning, which in the afternoon/evening.

Planning is fun to us and it helps build the anticipation (not that we need that).

 

[WaltD4Me]

I might be an over planner....I know my family would probably say so, but I LOVE the planning, I have a notebook I jot everything down in and my Passporter and the DIS here and I just plan away.

The thing is though, I don't really worry. If the plans don't work out, they don't work out and I don't stress if the plans get changed or if Disney changes around all the hours and EMH's. Yea, it can be annoying, but I don't worry about it. It's Disney and I'll be there, so basically...I'm happy.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

YES!!! But planning is half the fun!!

 

[my2boys1821]

The way I look at it, my planning compulsion helps me make a Disney vacation last year 'round. I get SO many, many, many hours of pleasure out of thinking about, planning, researching, re-arranging -- and I find that by having a plan in place when we get there, I know exactly how to pivot, or go with the flow, because I can see the time there in terms of the whole picture.

SO -- enjoy your planning, enjoy your trip, and know that when you get there you can make the adjustments you need/want to make since you know what's in store on your other days. Eight days by yourself?!? You lucky dog!

I guess I a planning addict too. Especially now that I have found DIS!!! It's hard to pop on the computer to check emails and not stop by here and see what everyone has planned for their vacations. Our trip to WDW in June is going to be a first for DH, and both DSs and even if our plans don't go as I wish I know I had fun 6 months planning everything.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Planning is like my hobby. They say planning is 1/2 the fun, but for me it more. Is it addictive!!! But hey, if you have to be addicted to something Disney is about as good as it gets.

 

[boomhauer]

Thanks. It feels good to know that I'm not the only one.

 

[HollyJoy]

LOL, I hear ya! I am planning a bit more for this upcoming trip, but only in the meal department. Since we are doing the dining plan, I have to. Other than that, I am planning which days to go to which parks, and then we will sit down as a family and pick our "must sees". It's easy to get stressed over planning, but just look at it like this, if you don't get to do it all, you will just have to go back!

 

[HappyLawyer]

you can never overplan

 

[psiprez]

Yes and no.

But if you don't plan ahead, you end up not accomplishing anything. So don't feel guilty. Just know that you will inevitably have to change plans on the fly (but you'll be all prepared to handle that!).

 

[Servants of Evan]

I am an over-planner by nature. To me, there's nothing worse than spending a few thousand dollars to ask yourself, "What do we want to do/where do we want to go?" I like to have an executable plan with modifying contingencies or a seperate back-up plan in place to ensure our objective is met. Even if that objective is having fun! Sure this planning drives my "go with the flow" DW a bit crazy (to a point) and she says I should be given an honorary admission to SOG! The result of my planning however ensures that each member of my family gets to see everything they wanted to see, do what they wanted to do, etc. I love seeing their smiles, and love knowing they're having the most fun possible at any given moment.

 

[ougrad86]

I'm going nuts overplanning, but having fun doing it ! My DH thinks I'm crazy, but the last time we went was in 85, and it wasn't anything like what it is now, not too mention we have two more parks and a 9 year old! Back then, you could walk into the restuarants and have plenty of elbow room. I am so happy I found DIS boards, because everyone has helped me so much in my planning! I just found out a friend of mine loves DIS as well, and will hole up in her office at lunch to read some of it. My son and her daughter are best friends - maybe someday we'll all go together!

 

[Dancenash]

I do the same thing. The girls at work make fun of me, but I usually get to do three times the amount they get to do when they go. Planning helps make the time go faster.

 

[married@wdw]

I overplan, but it's "on purpose." Here are my reasons:
a) it's fun for me -- almost a hobby, as I've taken to doing planning for friends and family sometimes too.
b) better to overplan than change our minds about what we want to do then to underplan and miss something or not be able to get in somewhere.
c) with the new dining plan, I feel like I HAVE to overplan meals because we eat TS every night and it's nearly impossible to get in to our favorites without ADRs.

So overplan away -- it's FUN!!!

 

[MinnieFan]

Another compulsive planner here! As others have said, half the fun is planning the trip! DH teases me about it - he calls me "Miss Disney" and says I should write my own guide book. I just want my family to have the best possible time when we are there, and I have learned so much from these boards and other sources that we have really had some fun experiences at WDW that we might not otherwise have known about. When I think back to our first trip, we were totally clueless! So to all you other planners, plan away and have a great time doing it!

 

[siestakeys04]

I am an over planner i have a disney guide book and a note book in the New travel bag i bought just for disney. My husband thinks i'm too. When he has a good time this july he will thank me. This is dh and dd and ds first time and mine since 78'. Like my first time again too.

 

[#1DizGal]

Hey, boomhauer - I'll be playing for 8 nites at PC 1/24 -2/1. Isn't it a rush?!?! This will be my 8th solo trip. Yippee!!!!!!!

 

[Cynt]

I'm an over planner as well. BUT I LOVE IT. My friends and family think I'm nuts and I'm in the wrong profession. I'm an accountant and they say I should be a travel agent. Believe me, if I could make what I make now as a TA I would switch careers in a heart beat.

I'm going 5/14 - 5/19, WDW and 5/19 - 5/20 US/IOA. I'm on these boards every day all day long. Every hour or so I'm checking the Dis for new post and I lurk like crazy when I'm bored w/ analyzing numbers. Mandatory 5 minute breaks every hour while I'm in the planning mode. So I can visit the Dis. I was really bad, I had to read every trip report but I've cut that way down to maybe one trip report a day. I realized I was spending hours on the boards when I first got to work and before I knew it, it was 9 o'clock and had been at work since 7:30. It's even worse when I get home in the evenings. I log on before I even start dinner for the evening. Thank God I'm single.

I haven't been since 1997 and I didn't know about so many things. Thanks to these boards, TGM and my passporter I've learned a ton of information. On a normal day, I spend about 4 hours total time on line. YIKES!!

 

[DisneyDiva74]

The other day, DBH came into the den and said "Sheesh, do we have enough books about Disney??" He is obviously not a true Disney planner, because then he would know that you can NEVER have too many books about Disney!
Plan away, you're in good company!